Man to be sentenced in cocaine bust at border

Canadian, U.S. officials find 17 kilograms

OSOYOOS, B.C. — A 19-year-old Mexican national will be sentenced May 26 for smuggling cocaine across the border into Canada.

Andy Garcia-Macias was arrested Jan. 3 by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police after making it from the U.S. into Canada with a backpack full of nine bricks of cocaine. That’s equivalent to about 19 pounds.

He was arrested near the Boot Lake area, east of Oroville and Osoyoos Lake.

Garcia-Macias pleaded guilty in a prior court hearing to possession of cocaine for the purpose of trafficking.

The man Garcia-Macias was with at the time was arrested after he fled back into the U.S., according to RCMP Cpl. Laurie White. He was arrested by the U.S. Border Patrol.

The man had no cocaine, but a search of Canada turned up another eight kilograms.